Day in photos: Dec. 11, 2012

A supporter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez grasps an action figure of the much-maligned ruler. He underwent surgery in Cuba today after finding out last week that his cancer had returned.

Reuters

Sikh guard Jatinderpal Singh Bhullar made history today, becoming the first guardsman to wear a turban rather than a bearskin hat on duty at Buckingham Palace.

ZUMA Press

Fireworks top off the tree-lighting ceremony in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Ibirapuera Park.

ZUMA Press

Meera, a young Indian girl, totes her family’s wares — paper pinwheels — to market in Mumbai for sale. Meera works after school to help support her family.

AP

Survival pods dubbed “Noah’s Arc” by their creator, a farmer named Liu Qiyuan, stand his yard in Qiantun, China. The apocalypse-obsessed farmer hopes the government will adopt his creation for protection against tsunamis and earthquakes.

AFP/Getty Images

Visitors watch a Santa-clad aquarium worker feed sardines at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea.

ZUMA Press

A German contractor inspects a segment of excavated tunnel in Pasewalk. Berlin’s Allied Museum says the tube, discovered earlier this year, is part of a 450-meter spy tunnel from Rudow in West Berlin to Treptow in the east.

EPA

Swiss F-5E Tiger II jets release flares during a flight demonstration at a Swiss Air Force ceremony at an air base in Duebendorf.

Reuters

A confident group of Syrian rebels watch a nationalist jet fly over their position in Fafeen village. The rebels, with help from an al-Qaida-linked group, have taken control of a sprawling military base there after a two-day battle.

AP

With help from the microalgae breeding in this petrie dish, Pierre Calleja, manager of Fermentalg, announced the French firm’s successful test of its biofuel on a standard, unmodified car engine.

Reuters

Indian youths sit in a grounded boat at Triveni Sangam, in Allahabad. The blessed area, according to Hindu tradition, is the confluence of three rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythic, “invisible” Saraswati.

AFP/Getty Images

Four-year-old Andrew Garcia and mom Ashley welcome home dad Pfc. Carlos Saldana at a celebration in Albuquerque for the return of New Mexico National Guardsmen from deployment in Egypt.